Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

Hitachi has scrapped plans to build a nuclear power station in Wales, becoming the second firm in two months to abandon a major nuclear project and triggering “a full-blown crisis” for the UK energy’s strategy.
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The decision is a serious blow to the government’s energy policy and hopes of attracting major investments post-Brexit.
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56 per cent of voters now back staying in the EU

Is there a Brexit deal that could win the backing of parliament?
It’s hard to say, because proponents of every alternative make bold claims about how many MPs support their cherished model.

The extraordinary margin of victory in Tuesday’s vote against Theresa May’s deal suggests that even if the prime minister could persuade Brussels to agree to an end date for the Irish backstop, it would not be enough to assemble a majority.

She could try offering legally binding promises on workers’ rights and environmental standards to try to win over Labour MPs from leave-backing constituencies.

But many at Westminster believe the only deal that could garner support would have to include a customs union – which is fiercely opposed by leave-supporting Conservative backbenchers because it would curtail Britain’s rights to make new trade deals. Some even say they would split the Tory party over the issue.


How likely is a no-deal Brexit?
There is no majority in parliament for a no-deal Brexit, but under the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 the UK will leave the EU on 29 March whether a deal is in place or not.

In order to avoid the significant economic and legal disruption that would result from leaving without a deal, the government must either win the support of parliament for a withdrawal agreement or delay or revoke article 50, the formal process of leaving.

After Tuesday’s defeat, May said she would talk to “senior parliamentarians” to try to find a deal that MPs could back. But with the prime minister reluctant to budge on any of her “red lines”, it is far from clear how she can achieve this.


Can article 50 really be extended?
A British request for more time is seen as almost inevitable by Brussels, not just because MPs are locked in stalemate, but because it looks impossible for parliament to pass all the necessary pre-Brexit legislation before 29 March. “If the UK comes around and asks for an extension of article 50 for a good reason, I don’t really see any one of the EU27 objecting,” one EU diplomat said.

For the EU, “a good reason” is not another six months of chaos and confusion at Westminster – but a second referendum would not be the only condition for an extension; there may be other good reasons.


Would an extension mean Nigel Farage remains an MEP?
If article 50 was extended beyond the summer the UK might be obliged to take part in European elections in late May. In which case, Farage, the former Ukip leader and key pro-Brexit campaigner, has said he would run.

However some EU officials think Brussels can come up with legal fixes, such as allowing the UK government to appoint national parliamentarians to represent the UK during the extension period.


Could Brexit still be stopped?
Yes, but there is currently no majority in parliament for that option. MPs would have to legislate for a second referendum, which would mean extending article 50 for several months. And without a deal on the table that parliament can agree on, it is unclear what the “Brexit” option on the ballot paper would really mean.


What else could May try?
The prime minister is so decisively boxed in that only dramatic moves remain open to her. One of those is to call a general election.

May believes strongly that her deal is closer to what the public wanted when they voted in the referendum, than a softer, Norway-style deal which would allow continued freedom of movement, and which she derides as a “politicians’ Brexit”.

She could choose to trigger a referendum herself, again to appeal directly to the public, over the heads of her squabbling MPs. Or she could resign. With much of Britain’s future trading relationship with the EU yet to be negotiated, May could pledge to step down in exchange for supporting her deal, and let a leaver take over for the next stage.

Peers set to shelve trade bill in anger over threats to food safety and animal welfare - but it is essential if the UK crashes out of EU

Theresa May hopes of avoiding a chaotic Brexit face another big blow from a House of Lords ambush that would sabotage putting in place essential new trade rules.

The government is set to be defeated on Monday when peers rebel in anger over ministers’ refusal to guarantee food safety, animal welfare and the power of parliament to block a free-for-all, The Independent has learned.

In an extremely rare move, the Lords is poised to vote to shelve the trade bill unless the government agrees to put flesh on the “skeleton” – something ministers have failed to do for 15 months.

Crucially, Liam Fox, the trade secretary, has admitted that preparations for a no-deal Brexit – by falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules – are impossible unless the trade bill passes.

“They need the trade bill for Brexit and we are extremely confident this vote will be successful, unless the government stops just saying ‘trust us’,” said a Lords source.

Under the plan, detailed scrutiny of the legislation will be abandoned until the government explains how future trade agreements will be agreed and scrutinized.

Ministers have stoked controversy about whether they would allow the import of chickens soaked in chlorine, beef fed with hormones and genetically modified crops, in the desperation for a US trade deal.

Last year, the prime minister, asked if parts of the NHS would be up “for sale”, said it was too early to judge what “requirements” the US would have in those post-Brexit talks.

Now the passage of the trade bill is in jeopardy with the potential derailing of an already extraordinarily tight timetable, with just 68 days until departure on 29 March.

Without the bill, the government cannot “roll over” 40 trade deals with other countries enjoyed through EU membership that will lapse if the UK leaves without a deal.

It will also be unable to sign up to the WTO’s general procurement agreement (GPA), in order to buy goods and services, presented by Brexiteers as the route to a no-deal future.
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There is more to both the economic and political issues involved than just free trade with the EU.

The biggest problem, however, will be a divided country. And perhaps the end of the Union.

I suspect there has been a good deal of foolishness on both sides of the debate - that is the usual case on such divisive issues.

whatever may be the outcome of the Brexit issue

Cabinet ministers involved in cross-party talks on how to break the Brexit deadlock have given the first indication that they are prepared to examine plans for a potential second referendum on the UK’s departure from the EU, according to the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Vince Cable.

The offer to examine a possible timetable for a second vote drawn up by the Lib Dems was made during discussions between senior Liberal Democrats and two cabinet ministers involved in the talks, Michael Gove and David Lidington, in the Cabinet Office on Thursday morning.
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The government insists that any referendum that could reverse the 2016 decision to leave the EU would be a betrayal of the will of the people. It has also suggested that a second vote would take up to a year to prepare and conduct. But the Liberal Democrats have produced draft legislation which they say would allow one to be held far sooner: before the next European elections in May.
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